The present invention relates to semiconductor devices and methods for fabricating the same. More specifically, the present invention is directed to semiconductor devices including a via contact hole connecting upper and lower layers of multi-level interconnections and methods for fabricating the same.
With ever higher integration density in semiconductor devices, interconnections become increasingly complicated. Since it is difficult to form such complicated interconnections into a single layer, multi-level interconnections formed of a plurality of layers are primarily used. Aluminum has become a popular material for interconnections of semiconductor devices, since it offers many advantages. However, since aluminum interconnections are generally formed by sputtering, it is difficult to fill a contact hole of a high aspect ratio with aluminum. At the same time, aluminum suffers from the serious shortcoming of cutting caused by electro-migration. Also, as integration increases, the width of metal interconnections and the width of contacts are reduced. For this reason, interconnection resistance and a contact resistance are increased.
Copper has been proposed as an interconnection material for semiconductor devices, as a material that enables minimization of the interconnection and contact resistances. Copper interconnections, the resistance of which is lower than that of aluminum interconnections, may decrease interconnection resistance, and may alleviate cutting caused by electro-migration, in order to thereby improve reliability. However, it is difficult to apply a patterning process to copper interconnections by etching. In addition, copper is easily diffused into a silicon layer and silicon oxide layer, thereby increasing current leakage and parasitic capacitance.
A variety of methods have been developed to solve the foregoing problems. First, a damascene process was proposed to overcome the difficulty of patterning. In the case of the damascene process, to begin with, a lower insulation layer is etched to form a groove therein. A copper layer is then stacked on the resultant structure and is planarizingly etched using chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) until a top surface of the lower insulation layer is exposed. As a result, the copper remains only in the groove to form interconnections. It is therefore unnecessary to directly pattern the copper. Diffusion of copper may be prevented by using a barrier layer composed of a conductive layer or an insulation layer.
Meanwhile, a conductive barrier layer, referred to as a xe2x80x9cbarrier metalxe2x80x9d among barrier layers may be used for processes of fabricating interconnections using not only copper but also gold or silver, which are also low-resistance metals suitable for interconnections. In addition, the conductive barrier layer has been widely used to fabricate aluminum or tungsten contact plugs, in order to prevent a spike phenomenon.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a step of forming a via contact in a semiconductor device with conventional multi-level interconnections. Referring to FIG. 1, a lower interconnection 13 is formed using a damascene process over a substrate 10 where a first interlayer dielectric (ILD) 11 is formed. An relatively thin insulating capping layer 15 is formed to serve as a barrier layer to prevent diffusion of copper on the lower interconnection 13, and a second ILD 17 formed of an insulation layer, for example a silicon oxide layer, is stacked on the resultant structure. The capping layer 15 and the second ILD 17 are patterned to form a via contact hole that exposes the lower interconnection. A cleaning process is conducted to remove residue from a surface of the exposed lower interconnection 13. While the capping layer 15 is etched and the surface of the lower interconnection 13 is cleaned, a portion of the copper layer may be also etched to form an undercut 25 under the capping layer 15 in the vicinity of the contact hole. A barrier metal 19 is then stacked on the substrate where the contact hole is formed. The barrier metal 19 covers an inner wall of the contact hole without filling the undercut 25. At this time, the barrier metal 19 is stacked to a relatively greater thickness on a bottom of the contact hole. However, a minute gap between the lower interconnection 13 and the capping layer 15, which is formed by the unfilled undercut 25, intervenes between the barrier metal 19 and the lower interconnection 13. After forming the barrier metal 19, a copper layer 21 is stacked to form a via contact plug that fills the contact hole.
Here, the copper layer of the lower interconnection 13 and that of the contact plug 21 are electrically connected through a thick barrier metal 19xe2x80x2 at the bottom of the contact plug as illustrated in FIG. 1. While the barrier metal 19 is formed, the undercut 25 may become a void. The barrier metal 19xe2x80x2 at the bottom of the contact plug is electrically connected in series with the contact plug and the lower interconnection 13 between the copper layers. The barrier metal 19 is typically composed of tantalum (Ta) or tantalum nitride (TaN) of which conductivity is lower than that of copper, thereby causing the resistance to be increased at an interface of the via contact. As the size of the contact is reduced as device integration increases, the density of current passing through the via or contact hole becomes higher than that at each interconnection. Therefore, a probability of cutting caused by electro-migration becomes higher at the via or contact. In particular, the electro-migration becomes an especially serious issue at the portion where contact plugs for connecting interconnections of each layer are vertically connected, because current crowding arises at these locations. At this portion, the barrier metal prevents connection between the copper layers of the contact plug and the lower interconnection. Therefore, a void is generated so as to elevate the probability of cutting.
The present invention addresses the limitations of the aforementioned approaches that are caused by the barrier metal that is used to form a contact plug for metal multi-level interconnections. It is therefore a feature of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device, where the metal of a lower interconnection and that of a via contact plug are in direct contact with each other, without a barrier layer therebetween, in at least a portion of the interface.
It is another feature of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device that is structured to decrease contact resistance and to prevent shortening of product life due to electro-and stress-migration in the vicinity of a contact interface, and a method for fabricating the same.
It is still another feature of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device that may extend the term of guarantee of products and improve product characteristics with a reduction in circuit resistance, and a method for fabricating the same.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device comprising a lower metal interconnection having a copper layer, an interlayer dielectric (ILD) formed on the copper layer of the lower metal interconnection, and an upper metal interconnection formed on the ILD. The ILD includes lower and upper barrier layers that have an etch selectivity with respect to each other. The lower and upper metal interconnections are connected by a via contact plug that penetrates the ILD. The via contact plug comprises an inner copper layer. A portion of the via contact plug crossing the lower barrier layer is formed to have a greater width as compared to a portion crossing the upper barrier layer. A barrier metal layer is disposed on a sidewall of the via contact plug and on a portion of the bottom of the via contact plug. Namely, the barrier metal layer is composed of a first portion on the sidewall of the via contact plug and a second portion on a portion of the bottom of the via contact plug, the first portion and the second portion of the barrier metal layer being discontinuous. Accordingly, the lower metal interconnection is in direct contact with the bottom of the via contact plug, where the second portion of the barrier metal layer is not formed.
In the present invention, the lower and upper metal interconnections comprise a copper layer and the barrier metal layer covering the bottom and the sidewalls of the copper layer.
The upper and lower barrier layers may be layers that serve as a barrier to copper, such as a silicon nitride layer or silicon carbide layer. But, the upper and lower barrier layers are composed of different layers so as to have different etch rates with respect to a certain etchant.
The via contact plug and the upper metal interconnection may be simultaneously composed of an identical material by a dual damascene process.
The barrier metal may be composed of one selected from the group consisting of refractory materials such as tungsten, tungsten nitride, and niobium (Nb), tantalum, tantalum nitride, titanium, titanium nitride, and three-atom materials such as tantalum suicide nitride, titanium silicide nitride, and tungsten silicide nitride.
The ILD is typically formed to a greater thickness than the upper and lower barrier layers. The ILD is preferably composed of one of low k-dielectric insulating materials like FSG (fluoro silicate glass), black diamond, and SilK.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for fabricating a semiconductor device comprising forming a lower metal interconnection on a substrate covered with an insulation layer. A lower barrier layer and an upper barrier layer are formed on the lower metal interconnection. The lower and upper barrier layers have different etch rates with respect to each other. An etch mask for a via contact is formed. The ILD with the upper barrier layer is anisotropically patterned to expose the lower barrier layer. The exposed lower barrier layer is etched using an isotropic etch process to form a via contact hole. The via contact hole has an undercut portion at the lower barrier layer with respect to the upper barrier layer and exposes a portion of the lower metal interconnection. A barrier metal layer is formed on an entire surface of the substrate where the via contact hole is formed. The barrier metal layer has a discontinuous part at the lower barrier layer. A copper layer is stacked on the substrate where the barrier metal layer is formed to form the via contact hole.
The lower metal interconnection is generally composed of copper using a damascene process, like the via contact hole. When a groove formed over the substrate by the damascene process is filled with a copper layer, a barrier metal layer is first formed to a thin thickness and the copper layer is then stacked on the resultant structure where the barrier metal layer is formed. The barrier metal layer may be formed by sputtering or chemical vapor deposition (CVD). A method of stacking the copper layer after forming the barrier metal lo layer typically comprises forming a copper seed layer on the barrier layer. The seed layer is preferably formed by CVD because the copper layer should be conformally stacked on the entire surface of the barrier layer. In addition to the seed layer, a thick copper bulk layer may be stacked using an electroplating technique to fill the via contact hole. When a width of the via contact hole is narrow, the copper layer may be stacked still using CVD to fill the via contact hole.
An insulation layer, which is typically thicker than the barrier layer, is further formed on the lower and upper barrier layers, thereby constituting the ILD. When the ILD is patterned to form the via contact hole, the ILD and the upper barrier layer may be successively etched simultaneously using an anisotropic etch process. The lower barrier layer is isotropically etched by an etchant having a higher etch rate with respect to the ILD and the upper barrier layer. Preferably, a width of the via contact hole is discontinuously widened at a portion of the lower barrier layer to form an undercut under the upper barrier layer. At this time, the lower barrier layer is composed of a nitride layer and the upper barrier layer is composed of a silicon carbide layer. The lower barrier layer is etched during a wet etch process using a phosphoric acid.